A legal notice will be amended so that people will be allowed to take off their COVID-19 masks to eat and drink in outside spaces, as long as they are sitting down, a spokesperson for the health authorities said on Monday.

The amendment follows a chorus of complaints on social media over the weekend that picnickers were fined, despite being in groups of less than six and maintaining social distance.

In terms of the changes, however,  the temporary removal of face masks will not be permissible if a person is eating or smoking whilst walking. 

That means, that any person eating, drinking or smoking outside must be seated.

The spokesperson told Times of Malta that the October 2020 legal notice on the use of masks in public places had featured a list of exemptions to wearing a mask outside, including when eating seated in an establishment. 

“Following the new COVID-19 measures announced last Thursday, where establishments can only serve food on a take-away basis, the legal notice is being adjusted to cater for the temporary removal of masks during the consumption of food or drinks in public places,” the spokesperson said.

The authorities announced that 789 fines were handed out over the last seven days to people who failed to abide by COVID-19 rules.